Chandigarh to host 22 matches in 2022-23 season

BCCI, the UT Cricket Association (UTCA) on Sunday received a major shot in the arm, as the city cricket body has been allotted to host 22 matches, including a women’s Under-19 T20 tournament in the forthcoming domestic season, starting October 1. With hardly any domestic cricket being played in the city for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cricketing action will return to Chandigarh from October 1 when it hosts the Under-19 women’s T20 tournament involving six Group F teams -- Baroda, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Haryana and Manipur. Meanwhile, the city girls will travel to Ahmedabad to lock horns against Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Saurashtra, Assam and Uttar Pradesh for the same tournament.

Thereafter, Chandigarh will host two matches in the Cooch Behar Trophy in November. The UT team will face Mizoram from November 12 to 15 before taking on Tamil Nadu from November 19 to 22 at home. With the national cricket board doing away with the strict bio-bubbles, Ranji Trophy, the premier senior domestic tournament will also return to the city’s Sector-16 cricket stadium, in January.

Chandigarh has been allotted three Ranji matches, with the first game against two-time former champions Vidarbha from January 10-13. Next up, the UT boys will take on another two-time champion Railways from January 17-20 before facing Jammu & Kashmir in their third home contest from January 24 to 27. The Ranji Trophy starts December 13 across various cities, and the Chandigarh team is placed in Elite Group E.